Parking woes continue to plague city

Adam Leech

Monday

Sep 29, 2008 at 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — How can a 128-key hotel, 36 dwelling units and a 10,000-square-foot retail complex be built with only 72 parking spaces? That question has city planners and policy makers investigating ways to change the parking credit system and meet the downtown parking needs of the city.

PORTSMOUTH — How can a 128-key hotel, 36 dwelling units and a 10,000-square-foot retail complex be built with only 72 parking spaces? That question has city planners and policy makers investigating ways to change the parking credit system and meet the downtown parking needs of the city.

Parking credits were established in city zoning laws in 1997 as a way to control parking in downtown and stop the proliferation of small parking lots. Building owners were then required to provide a specified amount of spaces based on the parcel's uses or pay $500 per unmet space, which was increased to $1,200 two years ago. The fee would only be imposed when the uses on the property changed and the calculation showed the more parking was needed.

"The whole rationale behind it is you don't want this sea of asphalt downtown and there's some properties where they couldn't have provided parking even if they wanted to," deputy city manager Cindy Hayden said.

Every parcel in the downtown was "grandfathered" an amount of credits based on what was there in 1997. For the Portwalk development, which will replace the Parade Office Mall and its large parking lot, developers inherited 660 parking credits — by far the largest in the downtown — that can be distributed among the three recently subdivided lots. What that means is almost no parking needs to be provided and it would meet the ordinance.

"Can we please, please fix that," Planning Board member Donald Coker said at a recent meeting. "I don't know how, but can we find a way?"

Coker, planners and elected officials are quick to point out that the developer, Cathartes Private Investments, is doing nothing wrong. However, this example — while extreme and unique in the city — shows why changes are needed to the current system.

The Planning Board is currently undergoing a rewrite of the city zoning ordinance, a massive undertaking aimed at updating all city zoning laws, and parking is part of that. The Economic Development Commission has also established a task force to take a look at the matter.

"What it all comes down to is: is provision of parking for people a public responsibility or a private one? I think it's somewhere in between," Hayden said.

City Councilor Chris Dwyer, who also sits on the board, said changing zoning laws is important, but is a slow way to address the issue. Finding more opportunities to develop city-owned parking, such as the Worth lot or the Parrott Avenue municipal lot, is key to providing what the city needs.

The city has twice attempted to create city-owned parking by partnering with the Portwalk and Westin Hotel and conference center developments to add multimillion-dollar city parking facilities. Both attempts failed for different reasons.

"I think we need to regroup and look what we as a city can do," Dwyer said. "We're not going to be able to create many more spaces (through zoning), but we may be able to create more dollars that can go into the development of parking."

Portwalk developers hope to begin construction of two of the project's three lots in the near future. Developers hope the third and largest lot will begin construction not long after — the key being securing a major tenant to fill part of the 150,000 square feet of planned office space. Regardless of the remaining 440 credits, developers plan to build an underground parking garage with the third lot (currently planned at 151 spaces) to provide parking for its tenants.

Hayden said one of the problems is the city did not charge enough for unmet parking needs initially. The $1,200 figure still may not be, she said, if those funds are expected to make a serious impact. One of the problems is the parking credit system can be extremely costly for some and cheap for others. Small business feel the hit much harder than larger developments, she said.

The key is making it an equitable system that addresses the city's needs, according to planners, but that is easier said than done and is something all communities with dense downtown development struggle with.

"We've got to look at it all," Assistant City Planner Lucy Tillman said.

"And we have been," Hayden said. "It's a very complex issue. There is no simple answer."

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